January WitFit Prompts
by primarycolors
Summary: A one word prompt from the Fictionista Workshop inspires a chapter. Love, hate, fraternities, sororities, friends, secrets, backstabbing and sex- Ah, the drama of college life! Bella is thrown into the fray when she transfers in as a junior.
1. Pearls

_Disclaimer: All copyright, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc. mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without their express written authorization._

I decided to try the Fictionista Workshop WitFit Daily Word Challenge. (mouthful, there.)

I had doubts I could pull it off, as I am a notorious over-thinking analyzing dork, but I'm finding it extremely freeing.

So, I get a word a day and then it turns into a chapter. I'm along for the ride as much as you are. Some chapters will be longer than others- no rhyme or reason.

This will be a continuing story line. If that changes, I'll let you know.

Last but not least, first time writer here. I'm pretty tough but lets all use our manners, okay?

* * *

Prompt: Pearls of Wisdom

"Please. I'm so sick of your little pearls of wisdom," I said to Alice, throwing my hands up.

"They're not… ugh!" She stomped her foot. "Whatever, Bella. You wouldn't know wisdom if it hit you over the head." She said, glaring at me from inside the closet.

"I know that I don't need you embarrassing me any more than I embarrass myself," I muttered. "Seriously. Just… I don't want him to be coerced or anything. It has to be natural or it won't count."

"Fine." She stomped out huffing and puffing but laid my outfit gently on the bed. "I can dress you, I can fix your hair, I can put you in the right place at the right time but none of that will matter if you don't know what the hell to do with yourself!"

I flopped back on the bed. I felt defeated before I had even started. "Well, what if it works, Alice? What if he notices me and then he finds out that I'm not really like that? All fancy with my hair done and makeup and stuff. Then he'll be disappointed. I think that would hurt worse then if he never noticed me at all."

She stood in front of the mirror fluffing her hair, pulling out little pieces here and there so that they stuck up just so. I never would've had the guts to walk in a salon and demand they practically shear my head like Alice did. She had confidence and I didn't. That was us in a nutshell.

"You just need confidence." Alice said, like it was something that had never been said before.

"It's false advertising," I said weakly.

She bounced onto the bed and crawled up my side to cuddle. "I wish you saw yourself clearly," she sighed. "It will all work out though. I can feel it. "

"Do you think anyone will ever love me like Jasper loves you?"

"Of course they will." She cooed, patting me on the arm. "Maybe it will be Emmett. But you'll never know if you don't try."

"Do you think a guy will be able to tell I've never kissed anybody before?" I whispered, because this was big-time confidential information.

"Well, if they're drunk they won't be able to tell. Then you can just practice and he'll never know."

"Gross."

"Yeah, drunk is gross. Tipsy on the other hand, is kind of sexy." She leaned up on one elbow. "Just let him lead. Don't start shoving your tongue in or anything."

"Okay. Embarrassed now."

She grinned wickedly. "If you'd only let Eric Yorkie have his way with you when we were juniors you wouldn't be in this predicament." Her hands framed words in the air on an invisible marquee. "Bella Swan. 20 and Never Been Kissed."

I smiled in spite of myself. "Why do I allow you into my room?"

"Because you love me. And because I won't let you sabotage yourself." She rolled off the bed and stretched. "Enough wallowing. You'll be so cute tonight you won't even have to say a word. Emmett won't know what hit him. Trust me."

"I do trust you." I sighed. "I think."


	2. Laugh

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Prompt: Laugh

Word Flex: "Did you do this?" He asked.

* * *

"Okay," Alice said in a low voice, "just act natural."

"But I thought you wanted me to act like you told—"

"Bella!" She spun and bared her tiny white teeth at me until she saw I was teasing. Then she acted exasperated even though she was smiling.

It was almost eleven o'clock at night and we were just now going out. An hour later and it would have been the curfew I had in high school. I joked about it earlier to Alice and she said that was the way it worked in college. I wanted to yawn just thinking about it but I didn't dare. Not in front of Alice.

I was actually quite comfortable in jeans, a fitted shirt and flats. We had spent a lot of time and effort dressing like we spent no time at all. Alice said it was important that we didn't look like we were trying too hard.

A boy in a party t-shirt and a baseball cap was manning the gate door with a hand stamp.

"ID." He sounded bored but looked us up and down and wasn't sorry about it at all.

Alice handed over her driver's license. I stuck my hands in my back pockets and tried to look like I wasn't underage.

"Jasper inside?" She asked the boy sweetly, letting him know that he was carding a senior's girlfriend.

"Shit," he mumbled, glancing at Alice's license then back up to her. He straightened a little then nodded and waved us in.

"He didn't even card me!" I said in a loud whisper as we walked through the backyard.

"Bella, look." Alice grabbed my arm. "Emmett at ten o'clock." Baseball star Emmett McCarty was casually leaning up against the side of the house looking hotter then anyone had a right to. A girl next to him was dutifully holding his beer for him while he texted someone on his phone.

"Crap," I said under my breath. I was blushing already.

"Let's find Jazz then we'll casually stroll over. He knows you from class, right?"

"Sort of."

"Well, I'm sure he's noticed you at least. We'll take it from there." She smiled brightly and waved at a pledge to bring us two plastic cups of beer. I didn't want to tell her that the sociology class that Emmett and I shared had 300 students.

Fraternity houses are disgusting. The tile in the foyer was slick with… something and everything smelled like watered down beer. Alice obviously knew where she was going so I kept my mouth shut and followed along.

"Have you ever met Jasper's roommate?" Alice asked as we headed upstairs.

"Alice, I've been here for two weeks," I laughed. "I haven't met anybody. Hey-" I jumped when someone grabbed my arm.

"Sorry girls, the party has to stay down— Oh…" The guy that had his hand on my arm let go. He smiled sheepishly. "Hey, Alice. Sorry, I didn't see that was you. How's it going?"

"Just fine, Seth," she smiled. Alice was always smiling. I think my natural state was a perpetual look of confusion. "Have you met Bella?"

"Hey," Seth nodded in a respectful way. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," I called as Alice dragged me upstairs.

"Do you know everyone here?" I asked, wrinkling my nose as we weaved down hallway after hallway. Now I could add pot to the list of yucky frat house smells.

"It's required for pledges to recognize the senior's girlfriends on sight. They know my name, my major and that I'm a Kappa Mu."

"Wow. That's um, kind of creepy."

"Tell me about it." She stopped in front of a closed door and knocked. I leaned against the wall to stay out of the way. Seth didn't know what he was talking about. There was definitely a party up here too.

"Yeah." A voice called from inside.

"It's me," Alice called, rolling her eyes at me. I grinned.

The door swung open and there was Jasper in all his scruffy glory.

"Hey babe," Jazz pulled Alice into his arms and kissed her on the top of the head. They had one of those coupley moments before he noticed me standing there. "Bella! How's big college life treating you, baby?"

"Fine," I frowned, looking to the side to see if anyone heard. The last thing I wanted was for everyone to think I was some little freshman.

"Y'all come in." Jasper ushered us through the door, making a face when he saw what we had in our cups. "Ally, you're drinking horse piss darlin'. Throw that shit out."

Jasper lived in some sort of suite; two tiny rooms connected by a tinier bathroom. I sat gingerly on the edge of the bed while Alice tumbled with Jasper into a recliner. I tried to look interested in the TV blaring ESPN.

I walked in the bathroom under the guise of checking my lip gloss but I really just wanted to give them some privacy. _Not bad, Alice_, I thought, inspecting my mouth. That stuff really does stay on. As much as I bit my lip that was a miracle.

The bathroom door from the other bedroom flew open and banged into my leg hard before I had a chance to move aside. I yelped like a baby.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were there." A cute guy with the most amazing green eyes I had ever seen retreated back behind the door but leaned in, probably wondering who the strange girl in his bathroom was. He wasn't wearing a shirt and I was afraid to look lower to see if he was wearing pants.

"Edward!" Jasper called from the recliner, "Fix these girls a proper drink, y'hear? They've been in the horse piss again."

Edward threw a quick smile at me then glanced into the dark bedroom behind him. "Kate, I'll be back in a minute."

He turned back toward me. "Do you mind?" He asked politely.

"Oh! Oh, God, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking," I babbled as I backed out of the bathroom.

Jasper fixed me a bourbon and coke, which was really pretty good.

"Watch out there, Baby Bell. That will knock you on your ass," he said in a way that made me think my ass on the floor was a foregone conclusion. That would probably happen without the drink but I didn't say that.

Edward and the mysterious Kate started banging the bed into the wall so Jasper suggested we go downstairs for a bit.

I was feeling a little out of place. All the girls here looked so fabulous. It was like they knew some answer I hadn't even figured out the question to.

"Don't tell him that I kind of have a thing for Emmett," I whispered frantically to Alice while Jasper had stopped to talk to someone in the hallway.

She gave me a stricken look.

I gasped. "You didn't."

"I'm sorry! But he would never say anything, you know that."

"Oh my God. Let's just go home, Alice. I have a bad feeling about this. Please." I wrung my hands, feeling slightly sick. I wasn't a sorority girl like Alice. She had been my best friend since we were kids but she'd had two years of this kind of life while I stayed home to take care of my dad. For me, junior college had felt like an extension of high school more than anything else.

"Okay, okay." She sighed. "I'll take you home. My keys are back in Jazz's room though."

"I'll come with you."

After she whispered to Jasper we walked back down the hallway. I waited outside while Alice got her purse. A stunning girl with strawberry blonde hair came and stood beside me in the hallway.

"Hi," she said, slurring her words a little.

"Hello." I murmured, trying to decipher her sorority necklace. It looked like she was a Kappa Mu like Alice.

"I've been looking for Edward. You haven't seen him have you?" She pouted at Edward's door. It was dark inside and it looked like he wasn't home.

"Oh I just saw him," I said, eager to help. "He's in there with Kate."

The girl was suddenly extremely sober. And that bad feeling I had earlier? Was nothing compared to the bad feeling I had now.

"Did you say Kate?" She stared at me.

"Um. You know, I'm not sure who—or even if there was someone else in there. I'm probably wrong. I usually am about things like this." _Alice? Where are you?_

The girl with strawberry blonde hair suddenly erupted like a freaking volcano and started banging and kicking the door, screaming like a lunatic. Alice came out of Jasper's room with her mouth hanging open.

"Oh crap," she whispered, glancing at me. "Tanya! Tanya, honey what are you doing? He's not in there." Alice got close enough to grab Tanya's arm so she'd stop putting marks on the door. "Come on, Irina's downstairs. She said she wanted to talk to you."

Everything might have been okay if Edward hadn't opened the door right at that moment in nothing but unbuttoned jeans and sex hair.

"What the fuck, Tanya? I'm just trying to sleep. I'll call you tomorrow." He glared at Alice and me.

"This girl says Kate is in your room," she growled in a voice that sent chills up my spine. "Is that true?"

Edward's eyes flicked to me before he stepped out in the hall and pulled the door shut behind him.

"No, of course it's not true," he scoffed. "You know I wouldn't do that to you."

Alice touched my hand and indicated that we should slowly and quietly back away.

"Then why would she say that? She said 'Kate' not just 'some girl'. If she's in there Edward Cullen, I'll tear her fucking head off and then I'll make you regret you were ever born."

I shot Alice a _holy shit_ look. She nodded and mouthed, _Come on_.

Edward's door opened again, only this time a girl (presumably the mysterious Kate) was standing there half dressed with a triumphant smirk on her face. Totally on purpose.

Edward groaned and smartly got out of the way, wincing when they tackled each other and something crashed in his room. He came closer and towered over me.

"Edward," Alice warned.

"Did you do this?" he asked softly. His eyes were hard.

"I didn't know," I whispered, hating myself for cowering.

Suddenly he straighted up and grabbed my upper arm, hard. I instantly felt reprimanded, like I was nine and my father was dragging me home.

"Edward, what are you doing?" Alice trotted beside us as Edward walked me down the hall. "Seriously. She didn't know about any of this. Come on, stop, you're scaring her."

I was past scared. I figured I would wake up any time now.

Jasper saw us when we reached the backyard but by then it was too late.


	3. Heart

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Prompt: Heart

* * *

"Hey, Em!" Edward bellowed across the yard.

_Wake up, Bella. Wake up_.

"What up, E?" Beautiful Emmett McCarty walked over, still fiddling with his phone.

"Hey, remember you were griping about finding a girl tonight? Well, I found one for you." His grip tightened on my arm.

I gasped. Surely no one could be this cruel. _Wake up!_

"Let go!" I hissed, trying to wrench my arm out of his grasp. He leaned down and whispered in my ear.

"Be still. I'm just repaying the favor."

"Found who?" Emmett finally looked up, confused.

"The girl you're fucking tonight." Edward grinned at me. "She's got it bad for you so it should be easy."

Emmett's eyebrows crawled up. "No shit. Where is she?" His eyes traveled over me and moved on, searching for the girl Edward was talking about.

Alice smacked Edward in the back of the head but he just laughed and ducked when she tried again.

"She's right here you dumbass," he laughed, jerking my arm.

Emmett zeroed in on me. "Who, her?"

There was a loud roaring in my ears as I twisted out of Edward's grip and headed for the gate. I barely heard Emmett's "Not cool, man," as I chanted in my head, _don't cry, don't cry, don't cry_. Alice was right beside me, spitting mad. She had some sort of silent communication with Jasper as she followed me out.

"Who does he think he is! I could just kill him, I don't care that he's Jazz's best friend. I had no idea he was such an asshole! Bella, I'm so sorry. Please don't hate Jazz because Edward is a jerk."

Two weeks I'd been here and already I'd managed to embarrass myself in such a large fashion that even I was surprised. The tears welled in my eyes but I held them back. We walked down the pavement and I tuned Alice out. Something my dad said to me once flashed through me.

_Don't ever forget baby, that this thing might beat me but it won't beat you. You're strong, you've got that Swan backbone, don't you ever think different. Y'hear me girl? Hold your head up high Bella, and don't forget where you came from. You're a part of me and I'm a part of you. And baby, I couldn't be prouder._

I stopped in the street and gazed blankly at all the high end SUV's, all the Mercedes and the BMW's. Cue the sweeping movie music.

"Alice," I said to stop her from ranting. "I'm okay. I won't pretend that my heart doesn't hurt but I'll be fine. Lesson learned, end of story. No hard feelings toward Jazz or anybody else- I promise. Some guys are just jerks." I shrugged.

Alice started crying.

I hugged her and smiled but inside I was dying. I had to keep reminding myself that I had faced down much worse than Edward Cullen and lived to tell about it.


	4. Exorcise

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Prompts/Multimedia Share: exorcise

Search Google/YouTube for a given word, then select a search result at random and write about it.

* * *

I googled exorcise instead of exercise by mistake. Was everything destined to remind me of Edward Cullen?

_How to Perform an Exorcism to Rid Yourself of Demons – wikiHow_

_Tip and Tricks-_

_1. Exorcise in pairs._

Alice and I had been there, done that. There were two empty Ben & Jerry's in my trash right now.

_2. Do not converse with the demons._

Don't worry. If I never talked to Edward Cullen again it would be too soon.

_3. Do not be afraid or lose your temper. Demons feed off your negative energy._

Right. Well, if I avoided him I might be able to keep from running him over with my truck. Rage had eclipsed fear at this point so that wasn't a problem. Negative energy though, was definitely a problem.

I closed my laptop and got up to make popcorn in my little microwave. Dorm life wasn't bad, if you could get past the fact that a stranger was naked while you were naked in the shower stall next to you. Condensing my life into an 8x8 room with a view wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, in fact, it was kind of liberating.

This stuff was all I had to worry about. No house, no parents. Just me, my books and what I could make of the rest of my life.

And really, the whole humiliating Edward-outing-me-to-Emmett was good in a way. It reminded me that I was here for school, not a social life. And I felt good about it. The pressure was off to be something I wasn't.

My iPhone buzzed in my back pocket. I sighed. I knew exactly who it was by the ring tone.

"Why are you calling me? Stop worrying."

"I know, I know. I just feel bad leaving you by yourself this weekend." Alice said. I could hear her biting her nails.

"Well don't. You should be having fun with Jasper." Alice was at Jasper's Florida beach house this weekend. She'd packed ten swimsuits for two days.

"Jazz said Edward feels bad about what he did Thursday night. He's been asking for your last name so he can find you and apologize or something." She almost sounded hopeful. I needed to shut that down immediately.

"Don't give it to him." I said in a stern voice. "I never want to see him again."

"Oh. Oh, I know. I haven't. I _wouldn't. _Honest."

"I'm sensing a 'but'." I groaned. "Come on, Alice. An apology would be awkward and he doesn't need to do that. I just want to forget it."

"No 'buts', Bella. It's just that… if Edward wants to find you he'll figure it out."

"Great," I said. "Awesome."

* * *

On Tuesdays I had my lecture class with Emmett. My mortification had more then overridden any sort of crush I might have had. Sure, he had smiled at me once or twice before but I knew now that he just smiled at everyone. He didn't know who I was last Thursday night, or even that he'd seen me before.

I was completely and utterly forgettable.

I knew that already. Alice just has a way of making you believe the impossible.

I got to class early (part of my no-social-all-study lifestyle) and sat in the back, closing my eyes for a minute or two as students trickled in.

Someone plopped down next to me, shuffling papers and unzipping a backpack. I sighed inwardly but didn't open my eyes. A lecture hall the size of a movie theatre and someone has to come get cozy? Who would do that?

"Bella?"

Emmett McCarty would. Oh, crap.


	5. Hopeful

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Prompt: hopeful

* * *

Emmett looked at me expectantly.

"Um, yeah?" I said stupidly. "I mean, yes, I'm Bella."

"I'm Emmett McCarty," he replied with a friendly smile. "I'd noticed you before,-"

_he's noticed me before!_

"—and then I saw you Thursday night at the house party—"

_oh… great._

"—and you just totally flew out of there before I could say anything…" He trailed off, politely pausing for an explanation.

I gave him a tight nod but of course my red face told him everything.

"Yeah, Edward can be a jackass sometimes but he's really a good guy," he said in a determined voice. "So try not to hold it against him or anything."

I scowled. "Why does everyone care what I think about Edward? I don't plan on ever seeing him again."

"Yeah, I don't blame you. But he's been obsessed with you the past few days—"

"What? I mean, why? He doesn't even know me. If he feels guilty or whatever, tell him it's fine, he can forget about it. Seriously." The last thing I wanted was to have to endure Edward Cullen while he made himself feel better. No matter how cute he was.

"Yeah. I thought you'd say that." Emmett leaned back with a sigh, switching his attention toward the front of the room.

"Well, when—"

"Shhh! Here she comes…" He straightened in his seat.

I looked to the front as the graduate assistant walked on stage. I glanced at Emmett and sighed. This was only the third time this lecture had been in session but it was obvious that whenever Rosalie Hale was slated to appear, the male population gravitated to the first few rows.

And if Emmett was infatuated with Rosalie Hale then I might as well give up.

When the professor began to deliver the lecture, Rosalie sat off to the side and unexpectedly glanced our way every so often. Her long legs were crossed as she studiously pecked away, her laptop light glinting off the little glasses perched on her nose. Emmett was restless until his phone buzzed. He smiled and fired off a response, looking straight at her as if to gage her expression.

My attention began to shift from the lecture to the communication between Emmett and Miss Hale. She had guts to be texting right there on stage where the professor was teaching!

"Are—are you texting the graduate assistant?" I whispered.

"Yeah," he said quietly, with a note of amusement. "She wants to know who the hell you are."

"Oh gosh. I'm nobody. Tell her we're just… I don't know," I said, unsure if Emmett considered us friends.

"I already told her we were just friends." He whispered as a warm smile lit his face. "She gets a little insecure sometimes." He shook his head. "Silly girl."

Silly? The girl was freaking insane if she was ever worried about someone like me stealing a guy from someone like her.

"We're keeping this on the down-low, okay? I mean, since she's kinda the teacher." He was gazing wistfully at his phone again.

I settled back in my seat. It surprised me that I wasn't really jealous, just… melancholy. I was probably about to start my period or something.

* * *

To my surprise, Emmett stayed with me when class was over.

"Where you going next, B?"

I couldn't help but do a little cheer on the inside. I'd known this guy for 50 minutes, 40 of which were spent in silence and he'd already given me a nickname. That was kind of awesome.

"I was going to walk to my dorm room," I shrugged.

"Cool." He paused, then, "Let's get coffee."

"Coffee?" _With me?_

"Yeah. Or hot tea, or whatever that shit is girls drink."

I laughed. "Sure."

* * *

I found out soon enough why Emmett wanted to get coffee with me.

Brouhaha was a tiny out-of-the-way coffee shop/blues bar a few blocks off campus. I hadn't seen it before but I immediately fell in love. The coffee room was lined with bookshelves stuffed with paperbacks and trinkets and any wall space left was packed with artwork.

I followed Emmett up to the counter, fumbling in my coin purse for a few quarters.

"Hey," I mumbled, quickly counting the coins in my hand, "do you guys have—"

I trailed off when I looked up and saw the guy behind the counter. His green eyes gazed at me calmly but his hands betrayed him, flexing open and closed as he waited for me to speak.

"Uh," I said intelligently, looking at Emmett in confusion. Why would he bring me here? Was he playing a joke?

"I really don't think I'm thirsty any more, Emmett," I said faintly, squeezing the coins tight in my hand. I made a concerted effort not to look back at Edward. "But thanks anyway."

As soon as I turned to leave Edward scrambled out from behind the counter.

"Bella, wait." He moved to block the door. "I just wanted to say that I was sorry." He seemed sincere… and hopeful?

But I shrugged and mumbled that it was okay and he let me leave. I was such a coward.


	6. Chronology

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Prompt: chronology

* * *

"Hold on just a minute. Chronological order please. Emmett sat next to you but he's seeing some graduate assistant?" I could hear the wheels turning in Alice's head.

"Alice, he's in love with the beauty queen that is our teacher. Of course he'd keep it quiet. And you can't say anything because I promised him I wouldn't tell."

Alice leaned forward on the bed, anxious to soothe me if I should happen to burst into tears. "And how do you feel about this?" She asked seriously, patting my leg.

"Stop psychoanalyzing me. I had a crush on Emmett for a week. If he likes someone else that's fine." I drove this home with a nonchalant wave of my hand.

"And Edward apologized?"

"He did."

"And?"

"And… what. There is no 'and'."

"Well, I just thought something else might have happened. I don't know." I watched her flick nail polish scraps onto my bed sheets.

I ignored what she was implying, because honestly? Edward and me together would be like the twilight zone. Pigs flying and hell freezing over and all that.

"I am curious about something though," I said. "What was up with that crazy girl… Tanya? She was nuts."

"Oh!" Alice scrambled to sit up so her hands had ample room to punctuate. She was a full body talker. Especially when it was gossip. "Okay, so. Tanya has been after Edward for ages."

"But I thought—"

"No, they were never together. He avoids her like the plague. But don't interrupt, just listen. Evidentially, Tanya did something to piss Kate off. Wait- you know they're sisters, right?"

"Not just sorority sis—"

"No, no. Twins." She rubbed her hands together and looked so devilish that all she needed was a twirly black mustache to make it complete. "So Kate showed up at Edward's crying about something and totally jumped him."

"He didn't look too upset about that."

"Well, that's just Edward, he's not going to turn it down," she said, then grabbed my arm. "But listen—Tanya is really crazy. Like, I heard in highschool that she's done everything from replacing her ex's shampoo with Nair and signing him up to get gay magazines to running over his Playstation with her car."

"Geez. Good old-fashioned keying his car not good enough for her?"

"I know, right? But that's not the worst." Her voice fell to a dramatic whisper. "I heard she cooked his new girlfriend's rabbit and left it on the stove for her to find."

I gasped. "No way. Just like—"

"Fatal Attraction," we said together and laughed.

"So, let me finish." She waved her hands like I wasn't ten inches away from her. "Kate's mad at her sister, goes over to seduce Edward because she knows Tanya is in love with him… and get this… she sends Tanya a text message from Edward's phone asking her to come over and that he wants to be with her or whatever."

"It was planned!" I exclaim. "So it really wasn't my fault."

"No. And Edward felt horrible about what he did to you even before he figured all this out." Alice sighed.

"She used him." It was hard to imagine anyone using Edward for revenge. He just seemed sort of invincible. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

We sat in silence for a few moments.

"So… the rabbit. Do you think that's true?" I whispered.

"I don't know," she whispered back, eyes wide.

Note to self: Never piss off Tanya Denali.


	7. Dawn

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Prompt: dawn

Dialogue Flex: "It's a new beginning," he said.

* * *

"Alice, why am I here again?"

"Because the Homecoming Committee will look good on your resume," Alice said, tightening the hold on my arm so I wouldn't make a run for the door.

"Yeah, I really don't think I'll have time for this." _Bella translation: I want to get back to reading my book._

"Good try. Remember who you're talking to," she said, amused.

"Fine." I knew how to pick my battles with Alice. "It's still a try-out process, right? They probably won't want me," I said hopefully.

"Don't you worry about that."

I sighed.

* * *

Turns out Alice knew the whole judging panel. It was completely rigged. Two days later we sat at Starbucks (I refused to go to Brouhaha) and waited for the list of this year's Homecoming Committee members to go up on the announcement board.

"How do you know I'm in the committee if the list hasn't even been posted?" Maybe there was still hope…

"I have secret powers. I see all." She smiled. "Anyway, there are sub-committees within the committee so while I have a guess where you'll probably end up I don't know for sure who you'll be working with."

"Okay."

Maybe this would be all right. I knew I needed to get out more, do more of the friend thing, and stop being so solitary. I just lived in my head so much, sometimes it was hard to get out.

Alice pulled out her phone to read a text. "Let's go," she said. "The List is up!"

* * *

"Marketing committee? What do I know about marketing?" I turned to Alice. "Does Homecoming really need marketing?"

"You've never been at this university during Homecoming. It's insane. A huge production."

"Well, it says that the marketing team has a meeting at the library… room 314… in an hour." I frowned. "That's kind of presumptuous. What if I had something else to do?"

"Stop being difficult and get your cute little butt to the library." Alice swatted me. "I'm on events so maybe we'll work together."

"Maybe." I hefted my backpack and walked backwards. "Bye Ally. I'm officially involved now. You can't complain anymore."

"I always find a way," she said, blowing a kiss.

* * *

Room 314 was empty.

Figures. Knowing my luck I wasn't paired with anyone and I had no clue what to do. I wandered around the room, stopping at a poster touting the benefits of good study habits when the door opened behind me. Why was I surprised to see those green eyes in the doorway?

Shocked green eyes, this time.

"Hey Bella." Edward said, eyeing me warily like I would go psycho like that bunny killer Tanya.

"Hi." I said in a polite voice. I could be a big girl when I wanted to. "You're here for the Homecoming committee… thing?" I wasn't going to bring up that night he ruined my social life if he wasn't.

"Yeah. I think it's just you and me on marketing. I was told it was me and one other person."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. "Okay… well, I hope you have some idea of what to do because I'm kinda new at this."

He reached in the back pocket of his jeans and unfolded a white piece of paper. "It says here that our biggest responsibility is the poster advertising all the events for Homecoming week. Your major is creative writing, correct?"

I nodded. _How did he know that?_

"I'm in graphic design. So we're a match made in heaven." He gave me a crooked grin that somehow made my stomach turn. But not in the bad way.

"Yeah, peas and carrots," I huffed and shook my head. 25,000 students at this university and I get shoved together with the one guy I swore never to talk to again. I stood there looking at him as he sat down at the table and started writing in a notebook. It dawned on me that we'd be spending an awful lot of time together in the next month.

"Think of it this way," he said without looking up from his writing, "it's a new beginning." He glanced up and nodded to the other chair at the table. "Come here and lets work this stuff out."

He must have sensed my hesitation because he stopped and gave me his full attention. "Bella…" he said sweetly. Oh, he was really laying it on thick. "Sit down. I don't bite." The megawatt smile made another appearance. "Unless you want me to."

Aw geez, I thought, as I sat gingerly in the chair. No one should be that good looking. It's a good thing I don't like him like that.

'Cause that might get a little awkward.


End file.
